How do you block apps on a Mac for free?

You have two free routes. macOS Screen Time can block or limit apps with App Limits and Downtime, set in System Settings. For blocking tied to focus sessions, the free Focuh app blocks chosen apps and websites at the system level using macOS Accessibility — start a session and the apps lock until it ends. Screen Time suits always-on daily limits; Focuh suits on-demand deep-work blocks with a timer attached.

Can macOS Screen Time block apps?

Yes. Screen Time, built into macOS, can block apps through App Limits, which cap daily time on an app or category, and Downtime, which restricts apps during set hours. It's free and needs no extra software. The catch is friction: it's designed for gentle daily limits, the 'one more minute' override is one click away, and it isn't built around focused work sessions. For deep work, a session-based blocker is usually stickier.

How do I block a specific app like Slack or Messages during work?

With Focuh, add the app to your blocklist and start a focus session — Slack, Messages, or any chosen app stays blocked until the session ends, across the whole system. With Screen Time, add the app to Downtime or set an App Limit. Blocking communication apps specifically is worth doing deliberately, because Slack and Messages feel like work while quietly fragmenting it into interruptions every few minutes.

Can I block games on my Mac?

Yes. Add the game to a blocker's app list. In Focuh, the game is blocked during any focus session at the system level. In Screen Time, you can block games as a whole category or set a daily App Limit on a specific title. App-level blocking is more reliable than willpower here, because games are designed to be the path of least resistance when you hit a hard part of real work.

What's the difference between blocking apps and blocking websites on a Mac?

Website blocking stops domains from loading in browsers; app blocking stops native applications from opening or coming to the foreground. They're separate problems. You can block twitter.com in your browser and still open the Slack or Messages app, or a native game, without touching a browser. A good Mac blocker like Focuh handles both at once, so closing the browser door doesn't just push you toward a native app instead.

Does blocking apps on Mac need extra permissions?

For system-level app blocking, yes. Focuh asks for macOS Accessibility permission, which is what lets it block apps and websites across the whole system rather than inside one app. You grant it once in System Settings. Screen Time doesn't need Accessibility because it's built into macOS, but it's also less flexible. The Accessibility permission is standard for serious Mac blockers and only governs blocking behavior.

Can I get around a Mac app blocker?

It depends on the tool. Screen Time limits can be overridden in a click, and Focuh's blocking can be disabled by revoking Accessibility permission in System Settings, so neither is unbreakable. Stricter blockers like Cold Turkey are harder to switch off mid-session. For most people, the friction of a deliberate override is enough to break the autopilot reach. If you need true lockout, choose a tool built for that.

Is Focuh free for blocking apps on Mac?

Yes. Focuh is free to download and use with no paid tier or subscription. It blocks both apps and websites at the system level during focus sessions, and it adds a focus timer, a kanban task board, and Google Calendar sync. There's no trial that expires — you can set up your blocklist of apps and sites and start blocking without entering payment details.

Macapp blockerblock appsfocusproductivity

How to Block Apps on Mac (Free, System-Level)

June 2, 20269 min readFocuh

Blocking a website is half the battle on a Mac. The other half is the native app — Slack, Messages, a game, the Twitter client — that opens the moment your browser block kicks in. To block apps on a Mac for free, you have two real options: macOS Screen Time for always-on daily limits, or the free Focuh app for system-level blocking tied to focus sessions. This guide covers both, when to use each, and the difference between blocking an app and blocking a website.

How do you block apps on a Mac?

The short answer depends on what you're after.

For daily limits that run on a schedule, use Screen Time, built into macOS. It can cap time on an app, restrict apps during set hours, and block whole categories.

For deep work blocks you start on demand, use a focus app like Focuh. Add the app to your blocklist, start a focus session, and it stays blocked across the whole system until the session ends — with a timer running so the block has a defined finish line.

Most people end up wanting the second kind, because the problem usually isn't "I use Slack too much overall." It's "I can't get 90 uninterrupted minutes without Slack pulling me out."

Blocking apps with macOS Screen Time

Screen Time is free and already on your Mac. Open System Settings → Screen Time. Two tools matter:

App Limits — set a daily time cap on a specific app or category (say, 30 minutes of Messages a day). When you hit the limit, the app is blocked for the rest of the day.
Downtime — restrict apps to a schedule, blocking everything except what you allow during set hours.

It works, and for gentle daily limits it's a reasonable first stop. The honest limits: the override is one click ("Ignore Limit / One More Minute"), it's built around daily allowances rather than focused work, and it can feel fiddly to reconfigure when your schedule shifts. If a one-click override is enough friction for you, Screen Time may be all you need.

Blocking apps with Focuh

Focuh is a free Mac app that blocks both apps and websites at the system level during a focus session. It uses macOS Accessibility permissions, so when a session is running, your blocked apps won't come to the foreground and your blocked sites won't load — in any browser.

The difference from Screen Time is the framing. You don't set a daily allowance and hope. You start a session with a specific task and a specific length, and for that stretch the distractions are simply gone. When the timer ends, they come back. Blocking has a purpose and an endpoint, which is what makes it stick past the first uncomfortable hour.

Setup is quick:

Download Focuh free.
Grant the macOS Accessibility permission when prompted — this is what enables system-level app and site blocking.
Add the apps you want blocked (Slack, Messages, a game, a native client) and any sites.
Drop a task on the board and start a focus session.

For the wider field of Mac app blockers, the best free app blocker for Mac guide compares the main options.

Which apps are worth blocking?

The obvious ones are games and social clients. The less obvious — and more important — ones are the apps that feel like work.

Communication apps. Slack, Messages, Discord, Mail. These are the sneakiest because checking them feels productive. They aren't, in the middle of deep work; they're interruptions wearing a work badge. Blocking them during focus sessions is often the single biggest win.

Games. A native game is the path of least resistance the moment real work gets hard. App-level blocking beats willpower here every time.

Social and media clients. The desktop X app, a Reddit client, a YouTube wrapper, music or video apps that turn into rabbit holes.

You don't have to block all of them all the time. Block what actually pulls you out during the work that matters, and leave the rest.

Blocking apps vs blocking websites — why you often need both

This is the trap that catches people who only block websites. You install a browser blocker, block twitter.com and reddit.com, and feel covered — then open the Slack app, the desktop Twitter client, or a game, none of which touch a browser. The website block never had a chance, because native apps don't go through it.

App blocking and website blocking are genuinely separate jobs:

Website blocking stops domains from loading in browsers.
App blocking stops native applications from opening or surfacing.

Close the browser door and an unblocked app is just the next door over. A Mac blocker that handles both at once — like Focuh — means there's no easy lateral move from a blocked site to an unblocked app. If your distractions are mostly browser-based, the how to block social media on Mac guide covers that side specifically.

Why system-level blocking matters

A browser extension blocks one browser. Screen Time and Focuh block at the level of macOS itself, which means the rule applies everywhere — every browser, every app — at the same time. You can't bypass it by switching from Chrome to Safari or by reaching for a native client.

That's the whole point of going system-level: it closes the side doors. The system-level website blocking on macOS guide explains how this works under the hood and why it holds up better than browser-only blocking.

Can you get around it?

Be realistic about this. Screen Time limits override in a click. Focuh's blocking can be disabled by revoking Accessibility permission in System Settings. Neither is an inescapable lockout, and that's by design for most focus tools — the goal is enough friction to break the autopilot reach, not to wall you out of your own machine.

If you genuinely need blocking you can't switch off mid-session, that's a different category of tool, and it's worth being honest that Focuh isn't built for that. The Focuh vs Cold Turkey comparison covers the stricter, harder-to-bypass end of the spectrum.

The quickest setup

If you want app blocking on a Mac today and you want it free: try Screen Time first for simple daily limits, and download Focuh if you want blocking tied to real focus sessions with a timer and task board attached. Add the apps that pull you out of deep work — communication apps first — and start a session. For the full lineup of Mac blockers, the best free app blocker for Mac roundup is the place to compare.